Today’s Bible Reading from the Five Day Bible Reading Plan: Exodus 13-15, Psalm 114, Ephesians 3

God calls His church to live in power—but not just any power, His power! In this passage, God moved Paul to pray for this not only for the Ephesian church but for all churches in all generations. The culture, the devil, and even our own flesh are tempted to look for power elsewhere. Physical power. Intellectual power. Political power. Mechanical power. Horse power.

For two weeks, the power to my car radio was inoperative. This happened before when my battery died. What I had to do was to send in the serial number to my radio to Honda, and they would retrieve the code for me to put in. How did I find the serial number, you ask? I had to hold the 1 and 6 button on my radio, then press the on/off button. But I had to do it in a particular order. I thought they told me to press them all at the same time. But no, I had to press two buttons, then the on-off. I found that out by accident. Then, lo and behold, the serial number came up. Now, originally I sent that in via email, but either I had put the wrong number in with my fat thumbs, or they saw it wrong, and sent me the wrong code. So, I had no power, then the wrong code, then hit the buttons incorrectly— until by accident I hit them correctly, then got a new code. Now I can listen to my radio in the car. But for two weeks, while I was waiting for Honda to call back, I had nothing.

No one automatically has power like this. And, when it comes to the church, the church has access to power, but in a way that the owner’s manual outlines and the helpdesk leads you. The Word is our manual and the Spirit is that who helps us understand and apply the Word. Paul prayed for power. His humility brought him to His knees. Why? Remember in Ephesians 3:1, Paul started praying for the Ephesian church, but decided to have his secretary dictate the nature of the mystery, noting that the members of the church are joint heirs, a joint-body, and joint-partakers of the promises of God.

The wisdom that God poured out came exclusively through the church, making this known to the “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.” Paul continues his prayer in Ephesians 3:14, again saying, “For this reason…” Given all that Paul says, “This reason” hearkens back to Ephesians 2:19-22, specifically 22: “In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

May God give us the power to understand.